Eighths to edward rushton



' (No Model.)

G. W. BENNUM.

RAILWAY JOINT.

N0.-601,220. Patented Mar. 22,1898.

' wif QEZZLOrl/g( IINITED STATES` PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. BENNUM, OF GEORGETOWN, DELAWARE, ASSIGNOR OF THREE- EIGIITHSTO EDVARD RUSHTON, WILBUR F, TUNNELL, ROBERT II. FOOKS, FRANK M. JONES,ANDREW J. LYNCH, .TOI-IN C. SMITH, AND AL- FRED B. ROBINSON, SAME PLACE.y

RAI LWAY-JOlN-T.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 601,220, dated March22, 1898;

Application fina June 18,1897. seriaiNo. 641,320. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: Each of these sections has a wedge-shaped oBe it known that I, GEORGE W. BENNUM, groove B formed lengthwise thereofand a citizen of the United States, residing at adapted to receive oneside of the flange C of Georgetown, in the county of Sussex and Statethe rails, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, and said 5 of Delaware, haveinvented a certain new and grooves are preferably somewhat deeper thanuseful Improvement in Railway-Joints, of said flanges in order that thelatter may not which the following is.a specification. reach the bottomthereof, and consequently My invention relates to a new and usefulpermit the increased hold upon the rail when improvement inrailway-joints, and has for drawn tightly against the same'. A series ofro its object to provide a simple and effective holes D (here shown asfour in number, but

device of this description by means of which which may be of any desirednumber) are 6o the meeting ends of two railway-rails may be formedthrough the blocks at a point below securely clamped and held in perfectalinethe flanges of the rail, and through these ment, while at the sametime affording said holes are passed the bolts E, which latter 15 endsthe necessary support to prevent them have formed in'their ends slotsfor the pasfrom saggingwhen not resting upon a crosssage of the keys F,said keys being wedge tie, and also to provide means for preventingshape and preferably having their ends split, the rails from crawlinglengthwise; andafuras indicated at G, in order that when they therobject of my invention is to facilitate the have been driven home theywill be held 2o -mending of rails that have been broken or the againstretrograde movement by the supportplacing of short lengths in a line oftracks, as ing of their ends, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, 7o well as togreatly facilitate the removal of a Vand in order that arm bearing maybe had by rail when occasion lrequires and the substithese keys washersH are interposed theretution of another therefor. between and the faceof the block.

25 With these several ends in view this inven- While I have here shownthe bolts as held tion consists in the details of construction lin placeby the wedge-shaped keys, it is oband combination of elementshereinafterset vious that the same result may be had by nuts forth, and thenspecifically designated by the run upon said bolts, the latter beingthreaded claims. for the reception of such nuts; but on account 3o Inorder that those skilled in the art to of the impossibility of thewedge-shaped split which this invention appertains may underkeys beingjarred from either position by the 8o stand how to make and use thesame, the convibrations of the track they have been found struction andoperation will now be described to be very serviceable for this purpose.

in detail, referring to the accompanying draw- Since there is often atendency for the rails 35 ings, forming a part of this specification, inof a track to crawl either byv expansion', or rewhichtraction or fromthe fact that the track is Figure l is a side elevation 'of the meetingplaced upon a grade,Ihave provided against ends of two rails, showing myimproved jointthis independent movement ofl the rails by block appliedthereto; Fig. 2, a section at the forming notches I in the sections ofthe block,

4o line as of Fig. l Fig. 3, a section at the line in which the pins .I,projecting downward from y y of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 a perspective' of athe anges of the rails, are adapted to t, and 9o section of thejoint-block. these pins may be either formed upon the In carryingout myinvention as here emrails or they may be secured within the same bodiedI construct the joint-block A of two by forming holes therethrough orriveting or 45 sections by casting, forging, or rolling, and screwingsaid pins therein; but I do not wish these two sections are counterpartsof each to be limited to the method of securing these other in allrespects, and therefore do not pins, as'the only essential feature isthat they have to be rights and lefts, but either one be 4made rigidwith said rails. thereof will fit upon either side of the rail. From theforegoing'description it will be seen that when the meeting ends of tworails are clamped by a block made in accordance with my improvement thebolts passing through the sections of said block below the ilanges ofthe rails tend to draw the blocks inward at their lower ends, therebycausing a gripping or pinching action upon the [langes of the rails,which so increases the hold of the block upon said rails as to precludethe possibility of the latter working loose. Another feature of thisarrangement is that the bite of the sections of the block upon theflanges of the rails is increased in proportion to the strain upon thebolts, as a certain amount of leverage is provided in favor of thebolts, so that a tendency to separate the sections of the block from theflanges of the rails does not bring an undue strain upon the bolts.

In practice a joint made by my improved block will not only serve tohold the rails in perfect alinement, which is necessary for the properconstruction of a railway, but will also give to the rails a certainamount of support on account of the length of the block and the factthat it grips the rails throughout its length and thus forms practicallya continuous rail, since the block is of greater strength than therails. This fact permits the joint to be placed between two cross-ties,or, when desired, it may be placed directly upon a tie by properlycutting away the latter. The sections of the blocks are here shown asbeing concaved lengthwise, as indicated at K, the object of which is tolighten the blocks, while at the same time permitting the setting in ofballast, so as to assist in preventing a sidewise movement of the trackwhen used between two cross-ties.

Among the advantages of my improvement is the fact that holes do nothave to be formed in a web of the rails for the passage of thejoint-bolts, since these bolts pass beneath the rails, thus avoiding thelabor and expense of forming such holes, and one of the advantages ofthis is that short or broken rails may be inserted within a line oftrack without having to transport the saine to a locality where thedrilling may be accomplished by machinery or the tedious operationsperformed of drilling the bolt-holes by hand. For this kind of work whenan entire track is fitted with my improved joint-block the drilling ofholes for the passing of the pins .I may be dispensed with, since theremainder of the track will serve to prevent any undue crawling of theshort sections of rails which may be inserted thercin,and when thismethod is followed the insertion of a short length of rails or themending of a broken rail will be exceedinglysiniple andquicklyaccomplished, as it will then only be necessary to cut the railto the proper length, place it in position, clamp the section of thebleek thereon, and spike it to the tie.

eo1,22o

In the manufacturing of joints made in accordance with my improvementconsiderable ad vantage is had from the fact that they may be rolled onaccount of the peculiar shape of each section, thus greatly reducingtheir cost, while at the same time providing a superior block.

I do not wish to be limited to the exact details of construction of theshape of the sections of the joint-block, as these are minor detailswhich may bc altered to suit the requirements of fancy or the particularwork of persons using the blocks.

Having thus fully described this invention, what is claimed as new anduseful is* l. The herein-described combination, comprisin the rails thepins adapted to be passed through the flange of the rail, and thejointblock, consisting of two sections each having a longitudinal wedgeshaped groove with notches for the reception of the pins and means forcausing the sections to clamp the meeting ends of the rails, as and forthe purpose described. u 2. As a new article of manufacture thejoint-block consisting of two sections each having a wedge-shaped groovefor the reception of the side ilange of a rail, and notches formed inthe walls of the groove for the reception of pins passed through theflange of the rail, as and for the purpose described.

3. The herein-described combination of the meeting ends of two rails,the block A composed of two sections which are counterparts of eachother, said sections having bolt-holes formed therethrough and notchesformed therein, pins projecting downward from the rails for fitting saidnotches, bolts passed through the holes, washers fitted over the ends ofthe bolts, and split keys passed through slots in the bolts and drivenagainst the washers, as specified.

yl. rlhe herein-described combination of a joint-block consisting of twosections, each section having a longitudinal wedge-shaped groove I3,holes therethrough for the passage of bolts, notches formed therein forthe reception of pins, and concaved at its lower portion, substantiallyas and for the purpose set forth.

5. In combination,the rails,the joint-blocks consisting of two sections,each having a wedge-shaped groove for the reception of the side flangeof the rails, and notches in the walls of the groove, pins adapted to bepassed through the v[lange of the rails in to the notches, as and forthe purpose described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE \V. BENNUM. lVitnesses:

S. S. WILLmnsoN, Jos. S. CAHALL.

IIO

